Water closet flushing mechanism



June 7, 1949. L. VAN DERCAR 2,472,534-

WATER CLOSET FLUSHING MECHANISM Filed Dec. e, 1946 INVENTOR. L. 5; l anDerca/z- Patented June 7, 1949 UNITED STATES WATER CLOSET FLUSHING MECHANISM Lewis E. Van Dercar, Miami, Fla. Application December 6, 1946, Serial No. 714,487

2 Claims.

The primary object of this invention is to pro- Vide a water-closet flushing mechanism of such simplicity and ruggedness of construction as to achieve the desired results at a minimum of cost and a maximum of reliability. The invention further aims to provide a mechanism which will operate silently and rapidly and which comprises so few parts, and those parts subjected to such little wear, that operation of the mechanism through many years without repair, may be had.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a novel type of valve which not only coacts in a highly eflicient Way in the flushing of the toilet but which is so constructed that it is normally, held closed by the water pressure, with the result that the noise and waste so often incurred through leaky valves, are eliminated.

The simplicity of the invention will be best appreciated from an inspection of the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of a closet flushing device, constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the valve and Fig. 3 is a sectional View through the float operated diverter, hereinafter described.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

In the drawing, 5 designates the bottom of an ordinary closet flush tank. A siphon tube is secured in the tank and comprises a long leg 6, which projects through the bottom of the tank to the toilet bowl to be flushed (not shown). The siphon tube is of inverted U shape and comprises a shorter leg 1, the lower end of which is out-turned to form a substantially horizontal mouth portion 8. Disposed in the lower portion of the tank is a valve casing 9, to which water under pressure is delivered through supply pipe Hi. A jet tube it extends from the valve casing and has its discharge end disposed in such alignment with the mouth 8 of the siphon tube as to discharge a jet of water into the siphon and start the flow of water therethrough, as presently set forth. A valve disk 12, moves within the valve casing, from the dotted to the full line positions shown in Fig. 2. When in its full line, or nonflushing position the water pressure holds the valve disk l2 firmly against a soft washer l3, which constitutes a valve seat. The washer 13 may be of rubber, synthetic rubber, felt, leather, or any other suitable material. When so seated the flow of Water through casing 9, is prevented.

The valve disk I2 is mounted upon an operatin rod 1.4 which rod fits rather loosely in the top portion 9a of the valve casin and carries a ball float H5 at its upper portion. An adjusting sleeve 16 may be provided in the len h of rod l4. i desired.

W en the rod is m nually h st downwardly against he b yan y of the flo t an Val .disls i2 is moved to the dotted line position pi ig 2 water flows from supply pipe Ill to the jet tithe M and t e dischar of a jet of water from said jet tube into the mouth of the siphon tube starts a flow of water from the tank into the closet bowl. The flow ,of water continues until the water level in the tank drops far enou h to brin the diverter of Fig. 3 into action. This diverter comprises a curved plate I-l, one end of which bifurcated to provide .an opening 13, through the diverter, and to provide legs 19, which lie upon opposite sides of jet tube H and are pivoted at 20 to a block like extension 2| of said jet tube. The other and upper end of diverter plate I! carries a small float 22, which, while the water level is well above the mouth of the siphon tube, holds the diverter in such position that the jet of water from the jet tube may pass through opening l8 of the diverter and into the mouth of the siphon tube. However when the Water level drops to a point determined by the setting of the parts and before it uncovers the mouth of the siphon tube to cause excessive gurgling, the float 22 of the diverter is uncovered and drops, thereby interposing a solid part of the diverter plate I? in the path of the water jet. The siphon thereupon ceases to act and the tank starts to fill. The curvature of the diverter plate is such as to perform a twofold function. First: its curvature diverts the jet much more gently and with much less noise than if the jet impinged upon a flat surface and, Second: the action of the jet upon this inclined surface holds the diverter down (again the tendency of its float 22 to lift it) long enough for the water to rise to the point where the larger ball float 15, takes over and lifts the valve disk 22, to shut off the flow of water to the jet tube. After being so lifted the valve is held firmly closed by the water pressure. Not only is the valve stem or rod loosely fitted in the top so of the ValVe casing, but the valve disk l2 may have a loose fit on its operating rod I 4 to thereby permit the disk to seek that position where it will bear equally upon all points of the circumference of the soft washer H3.

The top 90. of the valve casing has threaded engagement with the lower part of said casing.

This not only makes it possible to secure the soft washer in place by gripping it between the two parts of the casing but it facilitates assembly or disassembly of the valve whenever desired. Many ways may be employed for manually thrusting float I5 and rod [4 downwardly. For example a crank arm 25 on a rock shaft 26 may have a ring like end 25a which embraces a portion I la of rod 14 and thrusts against the top of the float. An angular end 21 of the rod holds the parts against complete disengagement from each other. The rock shaft, of a conventional kind, may be rocked by a handle indicated at 28.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes within its purview whatever changes fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. The combination with a flushing tank assembly of the character comprising a tank, a discharge siphon tube, and a horizontal jet tube discharging into the mouth of said siphon tube to induce siphonic action therein, of a diverter disposed transversely of and between the mouth of the diverter tube and the mouth of the siphon tube said diverter comprising a curved plate the lower portion of which is pivotally supported so that the plate may swing vertically, the lower portion of the plate having an opening therethrough, a fioat carried by the plate positioned to hold the plate elevated to a point where the opening therethrough lies in front of the jet tube when said float is submerged, the concave side of said plate being disposed toward the jet tube and the upper portion of the plate presenting a solid portion which gradually moves into the path of the stream from said jet tube as the float descends upon flushing of the tank.

2. The combination with a flushing tank assembly of the character comprising a tank, a discharge siphon tube, and a horizontal jet tube discharging into the mouth of said siphon tube to induce siphonic action therein, of a diverter disposed transversely of and between the mouth of the diverter tube and the mouth of the siphon tube said diverter comprising a curved plate, the lower portion of which is bifurcated to constitute a pair of legs spaced to lie upon opposite sides of the jet tube, a member carried by the jet tube to which the lower ends of said legs are pivotally connected, and a float extending across the upper edge of said plate, the concave side of the said curved plate being disposed toward the mouth of the jet tube and that portion of the plate between the fioat and its bifurcated portion presenting a solid impact surface which gradually moves from a position above the line of flow from the jet tube to a position into said line of flow as said float descends under the lowering of water level in the tank upon the flushing thereof.

LEWIS E. VAN DERCAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 665,825 Carroll Jan. 8, 1901 839,147 Hollaender Dec. 25, 1906 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,133 Great Britain June 13, 1890 

